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Seasons come, seasons go
The best part of the changing seasons, and naturally I am referring to sports seasons, is that they overlap. Therefore, it is critical to have fresh batteries in your remote control to keep up with the action.
In short order on Monday evening, I was able to catch glimpses of the Jays-Yankees, the Thunder-Warriors, the Penguins- Sharks, and a rain-delay replay of Milos Raonic’s loss at the French Open.
First-born son Arty became a dad himself this week in Ottawa. Congratulations to him and his wife Merran. Their daughter, Alice Louise, arrived at 9 pounds 14 ounces, ready to bat cleanup. My wife is staying with them for a week or so; consequently, I am in charge of the remote.
The Voice is nowhere in sight.
On Monday evening, the Toronto Blue Jays were on the winning end of a tremendous pitching performance from Marco Estrada. They have pulled up their socks lately. At this point in the season, with almost one-third of the games completed, the Jays have not lived up to pre-season expectations. Mind you, they have performed well lately and do not trail the first place Red Sox by a great deal.
The Red Sox have won 31 games, the Blue Jays 27. The Jays trail the Orioles, now in second place. As expected, the American League East division is a tight race and will remain that way until October. Over in the National League, the Chicago Cubs have won 35 games and appear destined to hoist the hardware for the first time in a century.
Each spring, I buy an informative magazine: Lindy’s Sports Baseball Preview. It describes itself as “the most authoritative baseball preview available.” The writers boldly predict the results of the 2016 season. At this point, they are slightly off the mark. The Jays are to finish first, then head to the World Series. The Orioles are predicted to finish in the basement. I realize it is a long season and results can be skewed by injuries, slumps, suspensions…The list is long. I believe the Blue Jays miss Chris Colabello, serving a drug-related suspension.
The Penguins and the Sharks clawed their way to the Stanley Cup finals and there is no reason to expect a short series. The Pens jumped out to a 2-0 lead Monday night, only to see it erased by the speedy Sharks. A late goal by Nick Bonino stood as the winner, off a nifty play by Sidney Crosby. As expected.
The Golden State Warriors lost the first game of their playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder at home. They then went down three games to one. Their main men, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson then began to shoot out the lights. As a result, the Warriors now head to Cleveland for the NBA finals. That is the home of LeBron James. You may remember him from the recent series against the Raptors.
Raonic lost in the fourth round in the French Open. He has contended better than any Canadian—ever— in international tennis competition. Canadian tennis fans look forward to the day when he accepts the accolades and awards at centre court, sometime, in his career.
We have plans to head to Wimbledon this summer to catch some tennis action. Perhaps Milos will save his best tennis for us in London this July.
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